"Be brave, Bella," she told herself. When she finally stepped into the hall, no one followed—that she could sense.
She was, finally, on her own.
The hall was lit, though still quite dim. Like the other, this one had statues, and paintings hung on the walls. But this hall was far more eerie. Many of the paintings were darker, with twists that made Bella's stomach churn, and she found herself looking away in disgust at many of them. Even the statues looked more malevolent and fearsome. It was a wonder that such a twisted place could thrive within a beautiful one; even if it was so mysterious.
There were cobwebs all over the place, and dust, as if no one ever bothered to clean the place, much less step a foot in there. But if candles were lit, then surely there would be someone there.
Or something.
There were doors everywhere, all hanging open and revealing dark rooms that were in the same shape as the hall, all abandoned in some way or another. Some rooms, however, were ruined, as if a war had been waged. But others were completely orderly, even if untouched and dusty. There was a sort of threatening aura about the place, as if it was trying to tell a story that wouldn't be fully understood; almost like Bella's first experience in the dining room the night before. Anger, fear, hate, sorrow—and something else far stronger than the rest, something Bella couldn't quite get her finger on. It seemed a mixture of love and longing, something like patience as well, but no matter how hard she tried, Bella couldn't figure out what it was.
The door that caught her attention was the one at the top of the stairs that was at the end of the hall. It was the only one that was closed, and quite tightly. It took Bella a bit of pushing before she managed to wedge it open, and she stepped into it.
A single candle was lit off to one side, and not giving very much light. But there was a balcony at the back of the room, which was open and letting in light from the bright moon outside, sinking in and crawling across the ground. So, Bella found that she was able to see quite well, even despite the lurking shadows.
This room was the biggest mess of all, with overturned tables and furniture. Even the bed was flipped, torn to shreds as if some beast had come in and had some sort of temper tantrum. Above a broken fireplace was a large picture, torn up across the center.
Unable to hold onto her curiosity, Bella walked up to the painting, moving a table to stand on top of, and she smoothed out the tears on the picture. Perhaps she was wondering who was in the painting. Or, perhaps, something told her that she needed to see; to understand something she didn't think she ever would. Maybe something in it would uncover secrets that would make sense of everything; of the empty emotions that were strewn about the castle.
The painting was of a young man, one who was most likely Bella's own age, with his arms wrapped around a beautiful girl that looked awfully familiar. The both of them looked completely different, though still slightly similar. They were both wrapped up in each other's embrace, smiling brightly at the painter and anyone who would admire the portrait.
The boy—or man, as some would call him at that age—had somewhat boyish features that were just beginning to mature. His hair was a light brown that fell around his ears gently, just barely brushing his neck, with beautiful bright green eyes that sparkled in the sun. The girl, who looked to be just a little younger than him, had red in her hair, though it was mostly brown—overall, an auburn color—and her eyes seemed to be an even brighter green than the boy's. They were both dressed quite well, though in clothes that were much more simple than they were now. Instead of wearing something proper, the girl's shoulders were showing, the sleeves having had slipped off of them, and a few buttons on the boy's shirt were unbuttoned. Both were barefoot.
Though it all wasn't very formal, Bella could tell that the two people were most likely of royal blood, and she wondered if they were, perhaps, lovers. The time seemed to be so long ago, though it was hard to believe that there could have such beautiful paints back in such times, and nice clothes; even if it wasn't all that proper.
Bella peered closer at the girl, wondering why she looked so familiar. But, no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't think of any reasons why she was recognizable. Besides, it was impossible for Bella to even know that girl in the first place, since the painting was obviously done so long ago. Though, for such an old painting, it still looked quite new. Aside from the tears, of course, of which were beginning to worry Bella.
What if whatever had done all the damage to that side of the castle was still there, and that was why she had been told not to go there? She supposed it was too late, anyway. She was already there, so she might as well keep looking around.
What would the Prince do? she asked herself again, just to draw forth encouragement. He wouldn't be worrying about silly things. He would brave it out and keep looking about the place. Nothing scares him. Though, she knew that wasn't accurate. Even the Prince was scared of certain things, though sometimes he ignored his fears and continued doing whatever it was that needed doing.
But even he knew when it was time to turn his back.
There wasn't much else in the room. Everything was simply damaged and torn to bits. So, after Bella hopped down from the table she had been standing on, she headed straight for the balcony.
Outside gave a view to several other parts of the castle—roofs, mostly—and the balcony was perfectly intact. The only thing that looked out of place was a round table about half of Bella's height with a stand in the center of it. On that stand was a foggy orb.
A crystal ball was well known to the people of Ash, since they saw at least two or three of them whenever the yearly Spring fair passed through. There were always fortune tellers eager to tell people what they wanted to hear for ridiculous prices, though some were courteous enough to lower prices at times. Bella, finding the practice foolish yet interesting, had always snuck to the edge of tents to peek and watch the tellers talk with customers.
Out of all the orbs she had ever seen, she had never seen any like this. For one thing, the orbs at the fair were either solidly clear, or somewhat crystalized.
This orb, however, held some sort of grey substance that reminded Bella very much of fog or a light sort of smoke. Just under a thin layer of glass, the smoke twisted and turned, revolving around in no specific order. When Bella leaned down close, peering into it, the smoke seemed to slow sometimes before picking up, as if her presence was unsettling it somehow.
Bella, unable to help herself, grabbed the orb in both hands—a perfect fit—and picked it up off the stand, which looked like four pillars with tribal signs crawling up the sides. As soon as her hands had touched the orb, it sparked a little, which startled her, but she didn't leave it, simply bringing it closer to her face to look into. As she stood there, marveling, the smoke slowly started to disappear. Then it began glowing, a bluish sort of color unlike any Bella had ever seen growing brighter as she gaped at it.
"What are you doing here?" the demon's voice demanded from somewhere behind Bella, unable to believe his eyes. When she turned around, frightened, the disbelief grew, and he stared at the orb in her hands. Anger, however, masked his confusion, gripping him in such a way that he couldn't ignore.
"I-I'm sorry," Bella said, not sure what else to say.
There was something wrong with the demon's features. He looked almost like he was being strangled—hurt—his fists clenching at the edge of the balcony as he gritted his teeth and glared at Bella.
She hurriedly set the orb back in its place, and it immediately went back to the way it originally was. Then she looked back at the demon, who had somehow transformed while her back was turned those few seconds.
His eyes, instead of that solid white, looked nearly black, though still slightly foggy. His horns looked more spiked than curved, and a little longer. Fur was pushing itself gradually from his skin, and his hair was shortening in length. The green on his face and fingers disappeared, and his sharp fingers turned into claws.
"I-uh-I,"
Bella tried to say as he continued to fight this transformation, jaw becoming unhinged, trying to force out the scream that was choking her. She only managed to utter a small, squeaky gasp that almost seemed to echo around them.
"You shouldn't be here," he growled at her, threatening, taking a step towards her.
She took a small step sideways, towards the room. "I'm s-sorry. I didn't mean—I was—I mean-"
"Get out of here!" he shouted suddenly, making her jump. When she only stared at him, he raced at her, making her feet come to life, and he chased her into the room, roaring like the beast he was. "Get out!" He flipped a table after her, just barely missing her as she ran for the door. "GET OUT!!!!"
Bella finally managed to trip out of the room and into the hall, hardly thinking as she ran. Her instincts were on overdrive, convincing her that she needed to get as far away from there as possible.
She didn't hesitate when she found herself flying up the stairs in the tower, down the other set, and racing down the dark halls under the wine cellar. When she burst into the kitchen, Eriq chased after her, yelling, but she shouted back some excuse she couldn't even think of and continued running.
She finally made it outside, and ran down the path that led out of the walls. Though she felt a brief moment of relief and freedom, she didn't slow down. She continued to run, thinking only of the monster she had seen; the same one she had only caught a glimpse of when she first came across the demon. That was the monster that had attacked her first in the tower.
The demon was that same monster.
7
Bella didn't think about her torn feet, barefoot, as she ran into the forest, getting torn up furthermore as her feet scraped against twigs and thorns and raised roots. The robe she was wearing, the only thing she had on her, tried desperately to untie and slip off in her efforts to get away, but her hands tangled themselves in the tie, forcing it to stay in place. She wouldn't let anything slow her down.
She had to keep running.
You're free, Bella, a deceitful voice said in the back of her mind. You finally got out. You're safe.
She slowed down, mostly to catch her breath, and calmly looked around at her surroundings. She was on an unfamiliar path, the one that led from the front entrance of the castle. Better than that, she was out of that castle; out of the demon's grasp. Worse than that...
She was lost.
Where am I? Where am I? WhereamI? Bella twirled around, trying to spot stars above her. Maybe she could remember what her father told her, about how to read those stars like a map. But there were no stars. None that she could see, anyway. The branches high above her were much too thick to see through; or, the night sky was a solid never ending darkness.
She wanted to ask herself if staying in the castle and facing the demon’s wrath was, perhaps, the best option after all, but she couldn’t bring herself to. She just couldn’t bear the thought of dealing with that wretched creature when she had the opportunity to run as she did just now. Not to mention…the demon was not only the Fae, but that wretched wolf-looking monster that had tackled Bella when she had first arrived. Though she hadn’t thought about it at that time, she supposed now that it made sense. Even if nothing really made sense at all now. Of course, she also couldn’t help but wonder how, exactly, the demon had managed to transform, and if there were others just like him.
A snap somewhere in the darkness made her freeze, hands grasping at her robe, head pointed at the sky, feet twisted in a strange posture. When the snap repeated, she slowly lowered her chin and returned to the soles of her feet, staring in the direction of the noise, but she couldn't see anything. She was surprised that she could even see the outline of the forest around her, since she couldn't make out any form of light. Aside from trees and brush, she couldn't make out anything. But, as she waited, she could've sworn that she saw something moving in the distance.
It's the demon, Bella told herself, eyes wide, and she slowly started to back away, trying to put as much space between herself and him as possible. I angered the demon, and now he's going to kill me.
She continued to back up, flinching when her back came against a tree, and she closed her eyes as she inched around it, readying herself to continue the slow and quiet race. But, when she made it around the large tree, her foot scraped a twig, which betrayed her and gave away her position.
Eyes flying open, Bella pushed herself off the tree and forced her legs to pick up speed, trying her best not to scream when she heard the demon racing after her. As she ran, however, she heard howls, several of them originating behind her.
The Fenrir! a small voice in the back of her mind squeaked, remembering the hideously powerful face that had been merely inches from her own delicate frame not so long ago.
She screamed, screeching louder and louder as they continued to give chase, wishing that it were the demon chasing after her instead. As horrifying as he was, she didn't think that anything could surpass the Fenrir. And, from what she had heard of them from the children of the moon, they took more pleasure in capturing a woman than a man.
Something solid slammed into her back, knocking her onto her stomach. The object, one of the wolves, rolled ahead of her before coming to a stop on all four paws, grey eyes seeming to smirk down at her. It wasn't one of the Fenrir, as Bella had thought, but seemed to be a wolf that was like any other in the world. Though, Bella knew that this one was rather large for just any wolf, and a little more human in a sense, with the way it looked at her as if it actually thought and considered things before reacting.
Bella slowly backed up, not sure whether to stand or stay low. She had heard that some animals thought it threatening when they were towered over, but she was sure that staying down wouldn't help her in any way. So, she hovered, knees bent slightly as she looked at the wolf in front of her, her hands gripping her robe fiercely, nostrils flaring, and she tried to keep her chin up, her confidence ruined by her uncontrollable shaking.
There were several growls and snaps of twigs, and Bella turned to see a whole pack rushing for her. But, instead of leaping at her like she thought they were going to, they all circled around, pushing at each other and barking at her eagerly.
"Nice wolves," Bella said gently. Her voice shook, and she looked at them one by one, meeting their greedy gazes. "I'm just trying to get home. Okay?" She took a steady step towards one of the small spaces between the animals, but the closest wolf jumped forward and snapped it’s jaws, which made her stumble back. This caused her to stray near another one on the opposite side, who snapped at her as well, and she went forward again.
A few more times this happened, every one of them having a turn, some even managing to swipe at her a few times. It didn't take long for Bella to realize what they were doing, and for her to start panicking even more.
They were toying with her.
Cat and mouse, Bella thought as she finally balanced back in the middle, where they stopped snapping at her. The circle was smaller now, only two feet of space around her and the pack. Only, I'm the mouse...and there's more than one cat.
"Please," she pleaded, wondering if they could understand her. Whether or not they did, she didn't care. Though, they seemed to.
Instead of showing mercy, however, some of the wolves snorted, and all looked at her with amused eyes, showing no emotion other than that. Though, buried beneath, it seemed, was a mixture of disgust and hatred.
Maybe they'll keep toying with me. Maybe I could feint to the side while they're distracted, and dodge around them. But there was just one question.
What would she do after that?
Bella gazed around her surroundings, ignoring the wolves' suspicious looks, but she saw nothing that she could defend herself with. Save, a tree branch.
But even that would do her no good.
One of the wolves jumped in her direction before lurching back, clearly bored, and the others restlessly followed suit, all glancing at one another as if having some sort of conversation, which only sca
red Bella further more. A tree behind them creaked, which made a couple of them toss their heads in its direction and they sniffed the air before turning their attention back to Bella.
The trees! Bella stared triumphantly at the trees around them. After all, what dog could climb a tree? There was the fact that these weren't any normal wolves, but it was worth a try.
Before she could move, however, one of the wolves snagged her robe between his teeth, yanking at it until it fell open, and she was thrown onto the ground. She scrambled back as the wolf walked towards her, trying to stand up, but the others kept knocking her back down. The wolf stared down at Bella with glowering eyes, lips pulling back in a menacing snarl, flashing yellow, gnarled teeth.
Bella closed her eyes as it pounced onto her, and let out a deafening scream.
The demon came hurtling at the wolf, slamming headfirst into him. His transformation was complete now, that Bella could see as she opened her eyes at the sudden burst of growling and howls. His horns were much smaller, eyes full and clear now, and teeth enormous. He looked very much like a wild wolf, though definitely much different.
She watched him fight off the wolves as they all threw themselves at him, gasping as they all took bites from him, slashing his skin open in several different places. It seemed that he couldn't win the small battle, since he was outnumbered. But, he was larger than they all were, and looked much stronger, which was in his benefit. Despite this, the wolves were able to pin him down, all snapping jaws and eager claws.
Just as one of the wolves—the same one that had been about to kill Bella, which she assumed was the leader—was about to take a bite out of the demon's neck, Bella quickly pounced to her feet.
"Hey!" she shouted, throwing her arms out on either side of her. When they all hesitated, looking her way, she nodded. "That's right. It's me you want, remember? Here I am!"
The leader shoved himself off of the demon as the others watched, head lowering, baring his teeth at her. He wanted to show her who was in control, to show who had all the power. But no matter how fearsome he looked, or how scared she was, Bella refused to back down, holding her head up high as she looked at him, sucking in a breath and fisting her hands into claws.
Beauty's Beast- The Light Page 11
